On 29 Jun 2006 07:12:39 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main you wrote: >On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 17:09 -0500, Tom Harper wrote: >> I've seen very few university-level computer science programs that are >> effective, either for mainframes or non-mainframes. > >This conversation shouldn't wander too far OT, but I've never understood >why people believe that computer science departments should teach m/f >particulars (or for that matter, MS-Windows particulars). > >If "computer science" deserves the "science" part of its title, then >those departments should be teaching algorithms, graph theory, game >theory, optimization, numerical analysis, NNs, functional programming, >compiler structure, objects -- stuff like that. NOT windowing APIs, not >JCL, not Apache modules, not Visual Anything. The platform used by the >students should be treated as incidental. > >I'll hire a kid with a fresh CS degree any day, whether he's got MVS >experience or not. There's some COBOL coder-beavers around here with >years of MVS behind them, but have no idea what O(n) means, and they >produce some truly wretched code.
As someone who has coded in COBOL since 1963 (and Honeywell FACT before that), written JES exits in Assembler and used various 4GLs, I admit that I haven't a clue as to what you mean by O(n) in this context. I still may not after you explain but I was able to sell myself as a technically capable person for much of my career (after I went from complete immaturity to only partial). > >Really, you want graduates with MVS skills? Talk to vocational schools >(or to Steve) -- THEY're in the business of teaching platforms. >Computer science departments should stick to computer science. > >Here's MIT's EECS course catalog. Notice you don't see either MVS -or- >Windows mentioned in it. > http://student.mit.edu/catalog/m6a.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
